“What took you so long?” The employee was loading the last piece of furniture onto the ship.

“Had some business downtown I had to attend to.” I explained, holding up my new business card.

It had my company name, Bobby’s Bazaar, proudly displayed on the front of the card. I had a second business card for the primary business I set up, Karumi Holding, stashed in my back pocket. On paper, Karumi Holding has a 20% share in Rule’s Fabrics, and has Bobby’s Bazaar as a wholly owned subsidiary.

“Do you need me to set up the furniture for you?” The employee asked after placing the last piece of furniture on the ship.

“I should be fine.”

I gave the employee a generous tip before entering my ship. I couldn’t wait to head to my next destination, to see Earth for the first time.

“Welcome back Bobby.” Aal greeted me as I entered the ship’s observatory. “You have had four visitors whilst you were gone. May I suggest you lock the ship next time you leave now that you have personal possessions on board.”

“Four visitors? Are you sure you didn’t just count the same person four times?”

“The first three were mercenaries, who dropped off a data bank.”

“Oh, I see.” I let my voice trail off as I realised what happened.

“The fourth was a man who loaded the furniture into the observatory. I deemed unnecessary for them to venture further into the ship, so I locked every door leading further into the ship.”

“Thanks, Aal. Now, prepare to launch. We’re going to Earth next.”

“Opening hanger doors. Preparing for take-off.”  

“I hope you enjoyed your stay at Zone 265. Please travel safely.” The same automated voice that greeted me was now bidding me farewell.

The ship gently lifted off the ground and into the air. As the ship left the hanger, hovering over the arid, red desert, it started accelerating forward, gaining speed, the wings unfolding to catch the lift generated by the wind. The ship started steadily climbing, getting further and further from the ground. As we got closer to space, the ships wings folded downwards, relying on the engines thrust to continue pushing us forward.

As we reached space, entering planetary orbit, I called out to Aal. “Calibrate orbital speeds for Earth.”

As I gave the command, the ship started decelerating. I watched as Mercury started getting further and further away from me. The orbital calibration gave me time to set up my furniture. I set up some multipurpose shelves in the observatory, placing the data bank on one of the shelves once I was done.

“There is a distress signal in between Earth and Mercury’s orbit. It currently has an orbital speed of 35, a deviation of 6 from our current destination. It would take me no time at all to adjust to the deviation.”

I hesitated for a second, mulling it over in my head.

I finally caved, not wanting the guilt to chain me. “Match the distress signal’s orbital speed.”

“Understood.”

The novelty of entering the slipstream was just one of those things that felt as if it would never wear off, the beautiful pinks and oranges reminded me of the sunsets that I saw in movies

“Exiting the slipstream.”

Gravity suddenly doubled before it just as suddenly lifted, leaving me floating in the ship. Outside the ship, there were small orange lights that popped through the dark landscape, like stars. A lightning strike lit up the scene, revealing an alien looking landscape.

“Warning! Plummeting at alarming speeds. Introducing down thrust. Conditions set positive, unfolding wings.”

The wings unfolded, rattling as they snapped in place, the air violently pushing against them.

“Introducing emergency landing protocols.”

The nose of the ship tilted forward, letting the wings catch some lift, transferring our vertical energy into horizontal. By the time we had accumulated enough horizontal momentum, it was too late, the front of the ship collided with the earth at an acute angel. The shock knocked me to the ground, where I stayed until the ship had fully decelerated.

When I got back up, I saw a red viscous liquid splashed across the windscreen. The landscape was covered in small stalks with orange, glowing heads, and the grounds was a fleshy pink, veins pulsing through the ground. There was a constant pattering as the rain bombarded the ship.

“Major d-d-d-damage to hull. Minor damage to interior cir-ir-ircuits. Approximate r-repair time, 6 hours.”

I sighed. “Where’s the distress signal located?”

“The distress signal’s distance from us is about 2.4km from us. According to na-navigational equipment, it is 338 degrees, north-east.”

I exited the ship, hoping to get some fresh air, but the air outside was thick. There was a putrid metallic smell spilling from the crater left by the ship. The ground almost seemed to pulse and felt fleshy to touch. The thick storm clouds seemed to centre around a colossal shard located far to the east, that pierced the clouds, mountain ranges full encircling it. A few hundred kilometres to the left was a massive, concrete wall that almost kissed the clouds. As lightning rumbled through the sky, I could make out twisted humanoid silhouettes, meandering through the landscape.

I marched northwest. The storm was fierce, with the dense wind roaring past my face. I continued straight ahead until I could see a light. I approached it, finding a fire, a hooded figure tinkering with an unrecognisable machine was sitting in front of the fire.

“I got your distress signal. I’m here to rescue you.” I tried yelling through the howling wind.

All the stranger did was indicate for me to follow him. Right next to the fire was a cave-like structure that wasn’t noticeable before.

Once we were both inside, the stranger spoke. “I had begun to lose hope, not thinking anyone would receive my distress signal through these thick clouds.”

The stranger took of his hood to show off his head, which was covered in a brown, thick, coarse exoskeleton. His lips were also covered in a hard shell, splitting to give some free range of movement. His eyes looked reptilian, occasionally blinking with a thick, clear membrane. On his neck was a speaker that he seemed to speak through. I had never seen or heard of a species like this before.

“May I ask you for a favour?” His lips didn’t move as he spoke.

“If it’s to get you off the planet then that’s what I’m here for.”

“No. I require help finding my friends. They are beyond the wall that separates this place and what is beyond.”

I sighed. “Why do you need my help? Do you at least know where your friends are and how to get to them?”

“I do not know where they are, no, however, I know how to get to them.” He looked at me for a second before speaking again. “Unfortunately, I have no way of compensating you monetarily, however, I can find a way of compensating in another way.”  

“Ok then.” I took interest in his proposal. “What is there you can do?”

“I have been trained to be highly versatile. I can accomplish any task you assign to me.”

“Alright then, I’ll help you.”

“Thank you, stranger.”

“Name’s Bobby.”

“My name is,” and with his own mouth, he said with an unknown accent, “Doom.” He returned to speaking through the speaker. “I will only be a moment to collect my belongings.”

“I’ll be waiting outside for you.”

The storm outside was still as vicious as before and the lightning grew ever loader. In the distance, lights seemed to emerge from the giant wall, heading towards the light of the fire.

“This could prove troublesome.” Doom had also noticed the lights. I noticed that he had a cane with him that he was actively leaning on.

“What are they?”

“Those are exorcists, here to rid this land of the disease that plagues it. Speaking of which, it seems you are not wearing any oxygen filters.”

“I didn’t think I needed to. The air here seems breathable if not a bit thick.”

“That will be a problem I will have to deal with.”

“Wait, what problem? What’s the problem?”

“There is a high chance that you have been infected by the virus that plagues this land. Do not worry. I will prevent the virus from producing any bad side effects. Here take this.” Doom took out a syringe from out of his cloak and put it in my hand. His hand was also covered in a thick exoskeleton, an extra thumb protruded from the other side of his hand. “After injecting yourself in a muscle, your body should feel a slight fever, and then from there all negative side effects of the virus will not affect you for the rest of your life.” The stranger then pulled his hood over his head and started heading toward the wall.

The contents were a fleshy pink and extremely viscous. Injecting the substance into my arm felt incredibly uncomfortable, the fluid flowed thickly through my muscles. My arm screamed in horror as the alien body entered it, but after a while it dissipated leaving only a growing feeling of heat.

I caught up to Doom, following him to the wall.